I picked up the core set a few days ago. Looking online at all the chapter packs, I'm not sure where to go next. I've never read the books and I haven't gotten into the game well enough to have a slant towards any house yet. What's the next thing I should be looking at picking up? I understand there was controversy over some of the releases (Princes/Kings I think) though I'm not sure why. I don't think there is a play group to speak of in my area so that's no help for guidance either. I'll be trying to convert my friends. In the meantime though, I'm wondering: what's next?

Welcome to the game.

The controversy about Kings of the sea (adding house Greyjoy to the game) and Princess of the sun (adding house Martell to the game) was about the content of the product. Kings of the sea was released before Princes of the sun and brought along very few cards (60) for a relative high price, FFG reacted on their costumers complains and brought princess of the sun with 120 cards for the same price level.

Both expansions are however a good addition because the two additional houses add more flavor and options to the game. I would also recommend to purchase chapter packs from one cycle, because every chapter pack cycle follows a special theme and so it makes sense to first get your hands on cards from one cycle.

You can find card lists from all LCG products here : www.tzumainn.com/agot/cards/

honestly. my advice is to play a bunch of games with the core set before you do anything else. learn the game, its flow, and the houses. that will help you to figure out what you want from the game and to also be able to fully appreciate reading all the cards on tzumainn's site.

once you get more involved, even with only the core set, we will be able to help you better. right now generic advice like get the Ancient Enemies chapter pack (because of the plots) is going to tell you very little.

I agree with Lars that you should play with the Core Set for a while and build up an understanding of the game. At this point, there are two house expansions and three complete chapter pack cycles to complement the Core Set so you really have some choice. Here are some previous threads I have posted on (with links to others) regarding the question of how to supplement the Core Set:

www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp

www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp

but I'd put a bit of thought in future purchases. I agree with Old Ben that cards within a chapter pack cycle tend to work well with each other so you'd probably be best off choosing one cycle and getting all (or most) of the packs from it rather than getting a couple from each of the expansions. A Clash of Arms has a lot of utility cards with some subthemes dealing with armies and kings. A Time of Ravens is all about the Summer/Winter mechanics (look at the cards in the first two chapter packs on tzumainn.com to get a feel for the mechanics). King Landing Edition is heavily focused on the Shadows mechanic. Kings of the Sea features House Greyjoy (unopposed challenges, saves, and sea raider themed cards), while Princes of the Sun shows off House Martell (vengeful and manipulative ... they make you pay when you win a challenge against them).

Is there going to be a rotation at some point that would move these sets out of the current format? With so much to buy I'd hate to start picking stuff up and it be removed. If it's not going to be removed I'd start with the earliest released packs to get them before they go out of print. If they are going to be rotated I'd start with the latest releases since they'll have the longest life. Any info on this?

There has not been nor is there currently any known plans of rotations.

Unifiedshoe said:

A) I don't think you need to worry about this for at least another year

B) If they do rotate FFG has already shown that reprints are their and our friends (i have 3 different versions of House Dayne Knight) and

C) So Much to buy? Its all fixed, to be good you don't need to have 3x of every card in 1 house, let alone 3x of every card in print. You can get what you want, either buy playing the core set enough to figue out your play style, readong the books and attaching to a house/set of characters, or by reading some of the old threads. Example: I decide i like house Greyjoy (go boats!!!) and I prefer control to rush (no Unopposed for me please). I have the Core Set (Its how i started off). Now i need to pick up 1 copy of Kings of the Sea (yes 'Big' controversy on the price per card, but really you only need one unless you are in love with duping uniques, but you have a couple of bodyguards in your 1 core set). With those two in hand I have a solid location resource base with 3 'Streets', 2 'Seas', 1 Gatehouse, 1 bloody Keep, 1 Iron Islands Fiefdom, 1 Chamber, 1 Kingdom of shadows, and 1 Bay of Ice/shivering Sea (and Crossroads to add in if needed...) A solid character and event base. Now I'd pick up the following Chapter Packs: The Winds of winter x1, A Change of Season x3, The Raven's Song x1, Refugees of War x1, and Scattered Armies x2. That's about a $100 (not counting Core Set as you should have picked that up a while ago) investment with enough cards to get you started with a solid deck type. If you want to use more support of harlaws or dupe wex pike there are a number of ways to do so, including asking on here if they are attainable from older players, secondary singles sellers of older cards (Irone Throne for wex, which set is easily findable on http://tzumainn.com/agot/cards/card-search.php?search=no ), and/or buying another copy of KoTS (where the price point becomes an issue, but if its that big of an issue play martell ). Now that you have a solid deck you can start picking up or filling out your collection of Chapter packs/other expansions (including a 2nd or 3rd core set if desired) at will. You can get only the new chapter packs each month and maybe start picking up a 2nd chapter pack every other month, or you can get 3 chapter packs a month any 3 of your choice. You'll see you'll start having all kinds of cards very soon and with no blind purchases (even the new chapter packs get spoiled pretty well) you can focus and tailor every purchase.

Quick question from another newcomer through a weird Christmas mixup I ended up with three copies of the core set (my extended family doesn't communicate very well I guess...). I thought I'd just have to sell them, but should I just keep them? Am I allowed to use more than one copy to make my decks, as long as there isn't >3 of one card? Does this mean I can buy another POTS and use some cards three times? That brings me to another, slightly related, question. I know the rules about putting duplicates on cards, but are triplicates allowed? Thanks for your time.

Lavinia said:

Yes!

Lavinia said:

Correct. No more than 3 copies (by card title) in draw deck.

Lavinia said:

Yes. Although its rare thing in this game - players usually do not include unique character more than x1, because of limited draw and dead pile rules. That doesn't apply to locations or attachments.

To follow up what Rogue30 wrote ... sure you can use up to 3 x of any card (unless the card says otherwise). Given that the Core Set is currently out of print right now though, you might still consider selling one or two of them since there should be demand and you could put the money towards buying some chapter packs. There are some cards in the Core Set that are only included 1 x that it would be nice to have 3 of though so it's a judgment call.

Also "triplicate" is allowed, though it's really just double duplicate. Like Rogue30 mentioned, it doesn't happen too often because, as you'll discover, characters die a lot. That might make it seem like having duplicates is a good thing, but it can become a liability when you draw duplicates copies of characters that have already been killed (and thus can't be played again).

nm, found the rules reference on page 19, that sure changes things

Toqtamish said:

Maybe you didn't read the whole rulebook? This only applies to unique characters (implied by the fact that we were discussing duplicates another concept that only applies for unique characters). Check out the "Other Game Concepts" towards the back of the LCG rulebook.